Disregard for UN ruling a blow to human rights

Melinda Taylor   In September 2014, Julian Assange filed a complaint against Sweden and Britain before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD).

When Turnbull's agenda was hit by realities 

Heath Aston   The threat of a 'double-D' is supposed to instil fear in senators, but this was a hollow threat.

Looking for a national leader

On the tax debate and asylum-seeker policy, we need better than what we've got.

The day our hopes for justice were dashed

A detainee in the offshore "prison" tells the inside story of frustration, fear and hopelessness.

'It's more complex than where you live'

Terrorism and migration experts have warned that radicalisation is "more complex than where you live" in response to a draft cabinet document that suggests refugees should be settled outside of major cities.

COMMENT

Tax reform a test of PM’s courage

Peter Hartcher   What is the point of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister if he is merely a more personable salesman selling the Abbott government’s policies?

How long can we keep lying to ourselves?

Waleed Aly   The history of asylum seeker policy in Australia will be remembered as a story of how successive governments legislated their lies to justify a world of make-believe borders and compliance.

GST: political hot potato chips away unity

An unpopular policy could deal a blow to the goodwill that Malcolm Turnbull's government has so far enjoyed.

GST rise does not tackle fundamental problem

Josh Gordon   Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has a point. If we are going to "reform" the tax system let's be very clear about what we are trying to achieve. Because reform for its own sake isn't really reform at all.

From climate denial to climate outsourcing

Marcus Strom   If the Abbott era was about climate-change denial it seems that with the Turnbull zeitgeist it is all about climate-change outsourcing.

GST hike is a solution in search of a problem

Peter Martin   We need a clear goal if the attempt to change the tax system is to succeed.

High Court decision puts the onus on Turnbull

Michael Gordon   Now that the legality of detaining asylum seekers indefinitely on foreign shores has been upheld by the High Court, Malcolm Turnbull has some big decisions to make.

Asylum seekers on Nauru in legal black hole

George Williams   All this means that Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers by way of offshore processing will now raise few legal questions. Instead, it will be governed by the politics of the day.

The government could fix what's broken

Peter Martin   What's left to reform if Morison's push for a 15 per cent GST goes south?

For voters, elite is a dirty word

Paul Sheehan   Voter distrust towards the political class has become potent. It is potent in the United States, it is volatile in Europe and it is evident in Australia.

Raising the GST to 15 per cent is fiscal folly

Paul Keating   If Australia goes down the path of increasing the GST to 15 per cent, it should realise it will be on the way to joining West European countries which are the highest taxed countries in the world.

Logic says no to Valizadeh

Tim Wilson   Daryush "Roosh" Valizadeh's freedom of speech won't be suppressed if the Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, denies him a visa. 

Canberra makes Iowa looks exciting

Tony Wright   Exciting political times in Canberra. You could tell. You needed only wander the corridors of Parliament House.

The $30b schools savings con

Matthew Knott   They are the $30 billion in education "cuts" that helped make the Abbott government's first budget so unpopular, infuriated state premiers and helped spark a national debate on increasing the GST.